The present invention relates generally to equipment utilized and operations performed in conjunction with a subterranean well and, in an embodiment described herein, more particularly provides a method of initiating injection planes in a well.
It is frequently desirable to be able to form generally planar inclusions in a subterranean formation or zone, in order to enhance production or injection of fluids between one or more wellbores and the formation or zone. It is even more desirable to be able to reliably orient such planar inclusions in selected directions, to extend the inclusions for desired distances and, in many circumstances, to maintain the planar form of the inclusions.
Hydraulic fracturing comprises a variety of well known methods of forming fractures in relatively hard and brittle rock. However, many of these methods have not been entirely successful in achieving precise directional orientation, dimensional control or planar form of such fractures.
Furthermore, the advanced techniques developed for the art of forming fractures in brittle rock are often inapplicable to the fundamentally different material properties of unconsolidated and/or weakly cemented formations. The rock in such formations behaves in a manner more accurately described as “ductile,” and defies attempts to orient and otherwise control planar inclusions therein.
Therefore, it may be seen that advancements are needed in the art of forming generally planar inclusions in subterranean formations. These advancements may find application in both brittle and ductile rock formations.